Tri-State Transportation
Campaign details proposal for off-peak and rush-hour tolls as MTA
hearing looms
A week from today, Staten Islanders will go to Susan
Wagner High School to hear what the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority has to say about its plan to raise fares and tolls this
spring.
They won’t hear any details about what kind of toll
discounts are in store for the borough, or a variable toll strategy,
like the one adopted by the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey two years ago when it hiked tolls on its six New Jersey
crossings.
But a study released yesterday shows that variable
tolls, which encourage drivers to travel during off-peak hours,
could significantly help reduce congestion on city bridges and
tunnels, including the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and raise revenue
at the same time.
“This actually gives the MTA and the governor
something to offer drivers,” said Jon Orcutt, associate director of
the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
Lower tolls during off hours could help cut
rush-hour traffic by 4 to 12 percent, according to a report from the
campaign. That means drivers could travel faster and save as much as
$36 million a year in congestion-related expenses.
The campaign proposes keeping off-peak tolls at
$3.50 each way, or $7 on the Verrazano – where tolls are collected
only Staten Island bound – and raising them to $5 (or $10 on the
Verrazano) during morning and evening rush hours.
Meanwhile, the MTA plans to raise tolls 25 or 50
cents each way – regardless of the time of day – and hasn’t
indicated what the Staten Island resident and E-Zpass discounts
would be.
“For the MTA to increase rush-hour bridge and tunnel
tolls this year while leaving off-peak rates alone would not be a
radical step for the New York area,” Orcutt said. “Rather, it would
extend a sensible policy that has already won acceptance.”
But critics say the plan unfairly targets low-income
commuters, who can’t adjust their work schedules to avoid the higher
tolls.
“Nobody ever talks about distributional issues,”
said Jonathan Peters, a College of Staten Island finance professor
who studies equity in tolls. “Most people of lower-income status
generally have less flexibility in their schedule.”
Orcutt responded that various tolls rewarded those
who have to travel during the rush hour – and pay more - with less
congested roads.
“This is like strangling somebody and saying you’re
saving oxygen,” Peters said. “Yes, that’s true. But it’s not the
solution we’re looking for.”
Tom Kelly, an MTA spokesman, argued that time-of-day
pricing would not work in New York City because commuters have too
many ways to avoid paying anything to drive into the city, like the
untolled East River and Harlem River bridges.
But Staten Island commuters have no such options –
only the Verrazano.
Meanwhile, in testimony before the state Legislature
in Albany yesterday, MTA executive director Katherine Lapp
reiterated the need for a fare and toll hike to fill what the agency
says is an estimated $2.8 billion budget gap over the next two
years. After cost-cutting, that gap drops to $952 million.
In Manhattan, the Straphangers Campaign handed out
fliers urging commuters to fight the MTA’s fare and toll hikes by
attending the public hearings.
MTA hearing
WHERE:
Susan Wagner High School
WHEN:
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 4 to 8 p.m.
MORE DETAILS:
Visit www.mta.info
